Stumbling Romance
by Loads of Randomness
Summary: Side Story to my Falling Trilogy. Set during the fifth book. It had been more than half a year since Remus and Sirius got some stories about Tonks' childhood. What better way to make up for it than for her to spill one of her more "successful" Valentine's dates that didn't even end in a kiss?
1. Charlie Weasley?

**AN: Don't worry, still updating 'Not There To See Me Fall' and 'Like a Falling Star' but couldn't resist this. This is set the weekend after Valentine's Day in the fifth book. Sirius and Remus haven't heard any stories of Tonks' childhood since the summer.**

**If you want to read all about Remus' and Tonks' Valentine's Day, check out Chapter 28 of the first story in the main trilogy; 'Catch Me Before I Fall'**.

"It was good, Sirius," I told my cousin, dodging around him with my half-eaten sandwich and mug of tea and heading towards the living room.

Yes, it was _technically_ close to dinner but I hadn't had lunch today. And we were probably going to get take-out between the three of us considering there was no Order Meeting and therefore no Molly. A sandwich wouldn't spoil that.

"Aw, come on. You have to give me more than that," my escaped-convict of a cousin whined, following me in.

"She does not," Remus scolded at the same time I asked, "Like what?"

Sirius looked between the two of us with a gleam in his eye, which was good to see considering his mood the past few weeks bit did it have to be directed at me and Remus? More importantly, me?

"Details! I want the details!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes as u finished off my sandwich. Figures. Of course, Sirius Black was being nosey. I shouldn't have even been surprised. He really was over-involved in my relationship with Remus. I swore he treated it like his own soap or something. I think he was actually a bit upset that we had no drama except for around the full moon.

"He took me out for a meal, we had dessert. He was sweet and a gentleman. What else do you want me to say?"

"That it was spectacular, you felt fireworks and it felt like you were the only two in the whole world," he replied promptly. Where did he get this stuff?

"Well. It was all that," I replied simply, knowing better than to give him any more ammo than that and fondly remembering mine and Remus' private little bubble thanks to the area silencing charm.

Remus coughed in embarrassment and his cheeks went red. I kissed them, making them go a shade darker. It was adorable. Sirius made a retching noise.

"You two are more sickly sweet than Honeydukes chocolate."

"There's nothing wrong with Honeydukes chocolate," Remus argued.

"It's way too sweet," Sirius countered.

"It's perfect."

"You just don't have the palate for it," Remus said with a sniff.

"It's _chocolate_ Sirius said in exasperation. "Marketed towards _kids_. You don't need a 'palate' for it."

"You think that because you don't have one."

"That doesn't even make any sense, Moony."

"It's not my fault if you are unable to comprehend."

I looked on in interest. This seemed to be a well hashed out and familiar argument to the two of them. It was almost like they were following a script, waiting for the other to say his line before making his point. It was quite fun to watch as I sat back and sipped my tea.

"You could at least tell me if you two got down and dirty with each other," Sirius said with a pout.

"You can't _ask_ something like that Padfoot!" Remus told him in a scandalised tone.

"What about you other Valentines?" Sirius rapidly changed track and looked at me.

"What Valentines? Remus is my only Valentine," I'm sure the look I sent my boyfriend was incredibly soppy but I couldn't help it.

"I mean when you were younger," Sirius explained. "In school. A few years ago. You had boyfriends and all, I remember you saying over the summer. You never mentioned Valentine's Day."

"That also something you don't bring up," Remus scolded.

It was sort of bad taste to talk about prior relationship events when you were in the early stages of a new one. Anyway, all mine were dreadfully embarrassing.

"Well, neither of you are going to tell me what you got up to _this_ Valentine's Day," Sirius sulked.

I couldn't help but snigger slightly, it was good seeing him less depressed. But then I blushed as I remembered what Remus did for me. It was so nice, perfect really. He was a complete gentleman (almost too much) and we had good food and good conversations. Finishing with chocolate was always a win in my book. It was just remarkably _easy_ being with him, not something I had experienced before.

"It's okay, I'm not insulted or embarrassed or anything," I assured Remus, leaning into him.

A happy sigh escaped me as he wrapped his arm around me allowing me to bury my face into his side. Both men gave me amused looks causing me to blush. Remus smelled nice, okay?

"I thought you said that you didn't have the best experiences with teenage boys?" He asked, tilting his head down so he could do it in a whisper.

I shrugged. "I don't. You two know that," I reminded them, neglecting to tell them that I certainly hadn't told them _all_ my horrible experiences as a teenager. I wasn't stupid.

Not that they looked too fooled but they left it alone, much to my relief. I didn't need to rehash memories like that. Especially with a protective cousin and boyfriend, both who could be quite terrifying in their own right.

"Then, what tale are you regaling us with?" Remus asked, confused.

"Some of the few funny ones," I told him.

They were also pretty embarrassing on my part but then again, what teenage romance wasn't?

"Yay, stories!" Sirius practically cheered, grabbing a sofa cushion and curling up in a corner of the sofa.

I gave him a raised eyebrow. That was a very... _enthusiastic_ response. Even for Sirius.

"Well, I've been deprived," he said defensively. "It's been months since either of you told me stories."

"Because there was no more to tell," I said in exasperation. "You literally got my entire life story over the summer."

Sirius grumbled unintelligibly but settled back into the sofa and looked at me expectantly. Remus did the same thing.

"I don't see why I have to be the one to share," I decided to mildly complain.

I really was okay with sharing but it seemed to be a little unfair that I was apparently the only one doing so.

"I already know all of Remus' awkward attempts at romance," Sirius said dismissively.

"I was not awkward," Remus complained from my side.

I had to hide a smile as Sirius gave him a look.

"He was awkward," he said to me.

"I was a teenager. We were all awkward."

"_I_ wasn't," Sirius bragged.

"No, you were just high maintenance," Remus retorted.

"I wasn't _high maintenance_," Sirius denied. "I was _suave_, _sophisticated_."

"A total diva," Remus added.

"Yes! Wait, no," Sirius said with a frown. "Moony!"

"Hey, you agreed."

Sirius threw his cushion at him but it caught me instead. I grabbed it and smacked him on the shoulder with it. The two of us had a brief, playful tussle before Remus tugged me towards him so that I was basically on his lap. Sirius almost came with me as neither of us had let go of the pillow but Remus somehow manged to tip him on the floor. Sirius could yelp in a remarkably dog-like manner.

"Well, at least I was a _gentleman_."

"No," Sirius argued with a smirk and a shake of his head. "You didn't know what you were doing."

Remus didn't even bother to deign that with a response. Probably for the best. Sirius could literally go on for hours when he was in a mood like this.

"In bet you knew what you were doing," Sirius turned to me.

"Eh," I replied, scrunching up my nose as I thought about all my 'relationships', if you could even call them those. "Not exactly. Did I ever tell you the time me and Charlie tried to go on a date?"

Remus spluttered behind me as Sirius looked at me quizzically.

"Charlie? As in Charlie Weasley? Ron's oldest brother."

"Second oldest," I corrected.

Remus coughed and I looked up at him.

"I don't believe you ever did, Nymphadora."


	2. Jealousy?

I gave my boyfriend (it still gave me tingles to think of Remus that way) an inquisitive look. It was a bit awkward to do considering I was currently the little spoon and in this snuggling arrangement. There was something odd in his tone the way he replied to me. I was normally good at reading people's faces but Remus was equally as good at hiding his emotions. It was quite frustrating.

"What?" he asked once it became evident to him that I wasn't going to elaborate on my story.

"Something up?" I asked, tilting my head to one side, absent-minded noticing that the ends of my hair turned [++++].

"Nothing," he said quickly.

Now Sirius was also looking at him oddly. Maybe he would have a better clue of what was going on so I turned my attention to him. Sirius shrugged at me.

"Your boyfriend's weird," he pronounced. "On with the story."

"He's _you're_ best mate."

"Boyfriend trumps best friend," Sirius decided, giving me a poke. "Story!"

I swatted it away. "What are you, five?"

"I'm right here," Remus said mildly.

"And being weird," Sirius declared. I nodded in agreement.

Remus looked away, his face flushing and a guilty look plastered all over it. My eyes narrowed. I'd seen this expression before...

"You're jealous!" I exclaimed, poking him on the chin.

He grabbed my hand and gently pulled it away from his face. The man never did anything aggressively. Except eat chocolate and - well. I tried not to colour up too much.

"I have no clue what you're talking about," he said in a stilted tone.

"Jealous?" Sirius repeated, a look of utter glee coming over his face.

"I have nothing to be jealous over," he informed the two of us in a lofty tone.

"Uh, uh," I said, shaking my head and standing up so I could face him with the appropriate scolding pose. "You are _so_ jealous."

He just harrumphed at me.

"She's right, Moony," Sirius said solemnly.

"You're jealous of Charlie Weasley! " I crowed, finding this completely hilarious. Charlie? Really?

"You have nothing to be jealous of," I assured him, giving him a hug.

He held me tightly. I liked this possessive side of him. It was rather nice.

"Because you're mine," he informed me in a growl possessive tone.

I kissed his nose. "Damn right."

A pillow hit us both in the face.

"Get a room!" Sirius declared, acting like a child and covering up his eyes.

"We are in one, Padfoot," Remus pointed out and gave me another kiss just to prove it.

"You're _own_ room."

"I'm good with snogging somewhere else," I said brightly, tugging on Remus' hand so he got up with me.

"No!" Sirius' tone was no longer jokey and actually had a hint of desperation underlying it. "Don't go. You, you," his voice faltered as he tried to think of a reason. "You have to tell us the story, Tonks!"

I was about to point out that we could do that later when Remus elbowed me and gave me a pointed look. Not understanding, I stared at him only comprehending when he jerked his head to one side. At Sirius. My cousin was very pointedly not looking at us. A wave of guilt crashed over me. He really didn't get many visitors now since all the kids were at school. This House was no longer new to any of the Order members so people only came for meetings and didn't stay long, though I suspected that Molly left food. He was basically all alone if Remus or I weren't here. Easter wasn't for weeks and the kids might not even come here. I sat myself back on the couch.

"Want to hear about me and Charlie being incredibly awkward and somehow ending up in Madam Puddifoot's?" I asked.

That got several raised eyebrows.

I settled into the still musty cushions.

* * *

14th February 1990

"Tonks! Hey, Tonks!"

It was the end of the day and Tonks was trying to fight through the crowds of students to get back to her common room. Her bagged weighed a ton and she just wanted to put it down and give her shoulders a break. Why were the textbooks so big?

"Tonks!"

Turning around against the flow of students was difficult but she managed it with a few well-placed elbows. Looking across the hall she saw the red hair of Charlie Weasley squeezed between two students. He came to a skidding halt in front of her, hair going every direction.

"Tonks!" he panted out.

She shifted her bag on her shoulder. "Yes?"

"You doing anything this weekend?" he asked abruptly.

"Well, going to Hogsmeade, I suppose," she answered, adding in her head, "And avoiding all happy couples."

"Want to go with me?"

Her heart suddenly pounded in her chest. Did he realise what he was asking? And on what day? Okay, Charlie could be pretty oblivious so she was going to have to spell it out.

"Uh-"

"Like on a date," he continued as she gaped at him. "Because Mark and Hugh have been telling me that that's what teenager 's are supposed to do for Valentine's day and I asked why. They weren't too clear but they said it was for couples to spend time together?"

He sounded so confused; it was kind of cute. Just one problem.

"We're not a couple," Tonks pointed out.

"Well, we could try it. Because we already get along and we're good friends. And apparently if you're our age we should be dating?" He frowned at that statement and shrugged. "I told them that dating wasn't really something I wanted to do but they told me I had to try."

"And you chose me?" she asked sceptically.

There had to be loads of prettier girls that he could have asked. Ones that squealed over him.

"I like you but I don't know if I want to kiss you or anything," Charlie explained. "But you're fun and you don't mind that I talk about dragons and maybe we would like kissing?"

Tonks had to choke back a laugh at how totally _Charlie_ this whole thing was. Honestly. But she was flattered.

Suddenly, he looked panicked. "You don't already have a date, do you? I don't have any other friends who are girls that I'd want to try this with."

"No," Tonks replied softly, shaking her head. "I'm no one's Valentine."

"Really?" He sounded surprised; she didn't know why.

"It'll be like a non-date date," Tonks suggested, wanting to get away from the subject of people not liking her.

His brown eyes lit up and he pointed triumphantly at her. "Exactly. A non-date date. We're friends seeing if we can do the date thing."

"Sounds good," Tonks agreed, adjusting her bag on her shoulder.

Actually, he sounded brilliant. Much better than all her current experiences.

"Where are we going?" she asked, expecting him to already have a plan.

"Go?" he asked, confusion lacing his tone.

"Most people already have a plan in place before they ask a girl out," Tonks told her friend, amused but feeling a bit excited.

She knew that Charlie wouldn't be like all the other prats and treat her horribly, he was her _friend_. At the very least, they'd have fun and, she fought to keep the blush off her cheeks and hair, he _was_ kind of good-looking. Especially the way he was growing his hair out like that.

"Really?" he asked, frowning.

"That's why people ask other people out," Tonks explained.

"Oh." Another thoughtful frown. "Well, where do you go on a date?"

Tonks shrugged. She didn't really think her list of failed 'dates' counted towards what was normal behaviour on these types of things. Especially when she spent most of it trying to stop guys from groping at her.

"Go for a meal?" she suggested with a shrug.

"That sounds good, let's do that," Charlie replied happily. "I'm always hungry."

"I know," Tonks teased, punching him in the arm.

Charlie nodded.

"So, a non-date date?" Tonks said awkwardly, shooting him a sort-of grin.

Charlie looked quite pleased with himself and nodded. "Yes. That's right."

"So, Saturday morning?" Tonks repeated, knowing that he'd probably forget if it wasn't pounder into his head.

"Yep. Meet you in the Great Hall?"

"Sounds good," Tonks agreed.

"Great."

The two of them stood in silence again, not really knowing what to say now.

"Well, I'm going to go see Hagrid. He promised to show me this ashwinder-" Charlie excused himself.

"Cool," Tonks agreed nodding.

The red-head turned away with an absent-minded wave.

"I just need to check what you're supposed to _do_ on a date," he mumbled to himself.

Shaking her head at her friend, Tonks rolled her eyes and smile. Like she said, it will definitely be fun on Saturday.

* * *

"_That_ was how Charlie asked you on a date?" Sirius asked disbelievingly.

I shrugged. "I never claimed it was romantic."

Remus snorted something under his breath. I glared at him, just because it wasn't anything serious didn't mean he had to right to laugh. Charlie was much better with animals than people. Always had been. No one got to make fun of him when _I_ was around.

My boyfriend held his hands up in defence.

"I wasn't laughing at Charlie," he tried to reassure me. "I was remembering some of Sirius' failed date requests."

Sirius coloured up.

"We swore never to speak of those!" he whined.

"No. You did. I did no such thing," Remus retorted. "I'll tell you later," he told me.

"Hey!"


	3. Looking Good

"What do you mean you had to stop guys from groping you?" Sirius demanded with narrowed eyes.

Remus folded his arms and pulled that inquiring teacher face of his. The one with the raised eyebrow and expectant look. The one that all teachers seemed to use when they wanted you to incriminate yourself. I purposefully didn't make eye contact so I didn't fall for it.

"Nothing," I told them instead, picking at my cuticles. Ouch. Okay, maybe I won't do that.

"_Dora_."

Oh, I hated that tone. It made me feel like I had to spill everything! It must be the Professor in him, all Professors seemed to use that tone. Or maybe it was just me.

"You guys know what happened in my teenage years," I reminded them. "I told you."

Some of the stories anyway. Definitely not all of them and definitely not the worst of them. Those stories were never seeing the light of day if I could help it. It didn't look like Remus or Sirius completely believed me if the look they exchanged meant anything.

"I'd like to show them what an ex-convict can do," Sirius said darkly.

And that was why. Like, I _knew_ Sirius wasn't as deranged like the media portrayed him to be but he was a Black. And being a Black came with a certain set of unmentionable skills, according to mum anyway. She always got a dark look at that and never explained any further. I wasn't ever quite sure I _wanted_ to know and, looking at Sirius, he was definitely capable of doing whatever it was.

"_Sirius_," Remus warned him.

"Moony-"

"_Padfoot_."

A look was exchanged between the two of them and, after a few tense beats, Sirius lost the scary look and sighed heavily.

"Fine," he grumbled.

I let out a sigh of relief I didn't know I was holding. I didn't exactly want my cousin to commit an _actual_ crime.

"So, what exactly _is_ a 'non-date date'?" Remus asked, making air quotes.

I smiled at the memory of the day. It had turned out fun. Just not the way you'd expect Valentine's day to go.

"You'll see."

* * *

17th February 1990

Tonks tugged at her hair as she waited for Charlie at the front doors. Hopefully he liked what she'd done with it, it was quite fitting - she thought so anyway. She looked down anxiously at her clothes, she hadn't really dressed up too much or anything. Okay, she'd put on jeans without holes in them and her least chunky pair of boots but she was also wearing her favourite denim jacket and a Weird Sisters t-shirt. Their most recent one actually, Charlie would appreciate it. Why was she even fussing over herself anyway? This was Charlie Weasley, he would be the last person to care.

Speaking of the boy, he was running late and she was getting hungry. Tonks' stomach rumbled in agreement. See, this was why the Wizarding World needed phones.

There was a clattering sound from the stairs. She rolled her eyes. Yep. It was Charlie. He came to a skidding halt in front of her.

"Hey, cool hair!" Charlie exclaimed in greeting.

Tonks beamed at him. It was nice to have someone compliment her abilities without any other meaning behind it. Very few people at Hogwarts did anymore and she was quite proud of this one. She'd kept it to a bob that was deep wine red with some pink splotches through it.

"They're meant to be hearts," Tonks told him. She hadn't quite been able to manage it, too finicky.

He gave her hair a critical look. "Still cool," he pronounced. "And they kind of look like hearts of you squint."

"Works for me."

"Cool."

They both self-conciously looked each other up and down it ruing to be subtle but there was no real way you could be when you were standing in front of each other like they were.

"You look nice," Tonks complemented.

He really did. Someone had obviously managed to persuade him to drag a brush through his straggly hair. It was at that awkward stringy phase it got to when you tried to grow your hair out. Tonks was glad that she didn't have to deal with _that_ particular problem but her dorm mates were forever moaning about it. His hair still looked good. Made her look rugged, especially with the list shadow of facial hair on his cheeks. Tonks didn't know what Mrs Weasley was going to say when he went home at Easter, she liked her boys to look smart and neat. Something Charlie definitely was _not_. Though Tonks thought he looked good in his leather jacket and least-worn jeans. The Gryffindor scarf actually set the whole outfit off.

"You look nice," she complemented.

Charlie beamed at her. "You do to. Love the t-shirt."

"I got it for Christmas. From my parents."

"Your mum actually bought you it?" Charlie asked with a snort.

"I know right?"

"Really cool then."

Tonks nodded and sort of bobbed about awkwardly, not knowing really what to do here. Which was ridiculous. They were just two friends going to Hogsmeade. Like they usually did.

"Shall we head on?" she suggested, giving a cough and gesturing towards the door.

"Oh, yes," Charlie shook his head. "It's nearly lunch time."

"I'm starving," Tonks told him as they pushed the door open and gasping as the cold air hit them.

"Same. I hope this place does good food. Hugh didn't really mention it."

And he would. That particular friend of Charlie's thought through his stomach.

"I guess we'll see."

They ambled towards the gates of the school, watching some third-years run past them shrieking ridiculously. Tonks eyed them; she was sure she was nothing like that a few years ago.

This we're silent between her and Charlie. She didn't know about him, but she found it difficult to start a conversation - not knowing

"Should we hold hands?" Charlie asked suddenly, interrupting her chain of thought.

"If you want to," Tonks replied with a shrug. She personally didn't see the attraction of such an action, the other person would just stop you from moving about and she wouldn't be able to stand that.

"I'd like to try," he decided.

So, they did. It wasn't as weird as she thought it would be. His hands were bigger than hers, not that that was difficult, and they were calloused. She supposed that helping Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn handle the animals did that to your skin. It wasn't exactly easy work. She knew. She helped out every now and then and she couldn't manage what Charlie could. It was kind of a nice feeling.

"Your hands are soft," Charlie said in amazement. "Hugh said all girls' hands were soft but I didn't believe him."

"How come?" She could help but bristle at that.

"I thought it had to do with some really girly thing to do with makeup or something and I know you don't like that stuff," he explained.

Tonks deflated. Oh. That was kind of sweet actually.

"Well, it's not," she said a bit shortly, annoyed with herself with judging him so quickly.

"Cool. Some creatures are like that as well," he said excitedly, his eyes lighting up. "Did you know-"

Tonks smiled as she listened to him ramble about the many differences between males and females of different creatures. Apparently, he knew of quite a lot - not that she was surprised. However, she was glad that they were talking like normal people again and she relaxed. She was being silly. They were still friends, having fun on a day out. Nothing more than that unless they wanted it to be. They wandered down to Hogsmeade as they usually did, her inputting things where relevant. Only this time their clasped hands were swinging between them. It was a brisk walk; it _was_ February after all.

"Which way is this place?" Tonks asked as they got to the main street of the village. She just wanted to get out of the cold.

"Mark said it had hearts in the windows. Hard to miss," Charlie replied, pointing down the street. "That way, I think."

Tonks followed his finger and noticed more than few couples heading in that direction. Looked like he was right.

**AN: Hope you're enjoying this! Remember, reviewers get sneak peaks of the next chapter!**


	4. Non-Date Date

"I thought you said Moony had nothing to feel threatened about," Sirius said slyly with a glint in his eyes.

"He doesn't! " I replied hotly and turned to my boyfriend. "You don't."

He really doesn't. In all ways, Remus beat a silky teenage 'non-date'. No one compared.

"Looks like you liked being all close with Charlie-boy there," my cousin continued.

"He's my _friend_." I stressed.

Why did Sirius like to stir the pot? I folded my arms and glared at him but he wasn't exactly intimidated by it. Hmpf. Notably, Remus wasn't saying anything. I turned around to look at him, he was doing what I like to call his 'thinking frown'.

"What exactly happened on this 'date'?" he asked slowly.

"It was a non-date date," I corrected in exasperation. "And _nothing_!" I even threw my hands up in the air and morphed my hair to stand on air for good measure.

* * *

The door swung open and the overwhelming smell of roses smacked them in the face.

"Woah!" Both of them exclaimed at the same time.

It was a shocked and impressed 'Woah' but not exactly a positive one. Tonks didn't know what she was expecting but this was definitely not it. All she could see was pink. And red. But mainly pink and in varying shades. It had quite a dizzying effect.

"Is everything _moving_?" Charlie asked in a not-so-quiet whisper.

The staff near the door glared at him, something he was oblivious to. Though, he had a point. The effect of all the pink created an optical illusion of sorts. It was _weird_.

"I don't think so," Tonks replied in a suspicious tone, glancing all around her.

"Is this place real then?" Charlie asked in a whisper.

Tonks wasn't too convinced herself but she poked one of the big heart decorations by the door. Her finger came away with glitter on it.

"Looks like it," she responded. "Unless this is a shared delusion."

They were pushed out of the way by a seventh year Ravenclaw and his Gryffindor girlfriend who was simpering on his arm. The pair were quickly shown to a table, the girl squealing and pressing kisses to the guy's cheeks the whole way down the restaurant.

"I'm not acting like that," Tonks told her 'date'.

Charlie looked more than a little horrified. "I don't want you to."

And then he shuddered. Tonks sniggered to herself and made a note; no kissing Charlie's neck. Not that she'd want to.

"Would you please follow me," a waitress said to them, looking incredibly unimpressed.

Tonks and Charlie exchanged looks, Charlie then sweeping into an over-exaggerated bow to allow her to go first. Giggling and shaking her head at his antics, she followed their waitress across the cafe. They had to dart around several spindly tables and giggling couples. Tonks had a sudden feeling of dread that she squashed down. This was going to be fun. It _was_.

The table they were led to was at the very back, close to the doors to the kitchen. Lots of chocolatey smells were coming from it. They sat down at their own spindly table and had menus thrust at them.

"I'll be back soon," their waitress muttered, slipping away.

Charlie suddenly smacked his hand off his head. Tonks looked up at him in shock.

"You okay?"

"I forgot to pull your chair out!" he exclaimed. "I was supposed to do that."

"It's okay," Tonks assured him.

"But it's a part of going out."

"Not an important part."

"My friends are going to tell me off."

"Just don't tell them."

Charlie didn't look too convinced and was about to reply when their waitress reappeared.

"Are you going to order or what?" a bored looking waitress asked.

Looked like they weren't the only ones who didn't belong here.

"Give us a minute," Charlie told her.

"Whatever," the girl replied with a roll of her eyes as she sloped off.

The two of them looked at each other, smirked, and looked quickly down at the menus. It was all fancy teas and coffees and lots of sweet treats. Which was all well and good, Tonks liked chocolate pastries as much as the next girl but she didn't recognise what the hell the treats were. She peered over the menu at Charlie, to see what he was making of it. He was frowning at it, apparently just as unimpressed as she was.

"I don't think you can get butterbeer here," he said in dismay.

"You can get all these fancy teas and coffees," Tonks pointed out, running her finger down the _long_ list of said beverages.

There was a lot. As in they took up a side of the menu each.

"I could go for a tea," Charlie said, perking up. "It is cold outside."

"That's not a bad idea," Tonks agreed.

Almost as soon as they said that, their 'cheerful' waitress appeared again.

"What are you having?" she asked, grabbing the quill from her apron pocket.

"Can we have two teas?" Charlie asked.

"What kind?"

"Just a standard tea," Charlie told her.

The girl scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"We don't do basic teas. We have a number of specialty teas, if you'd look at the menu."

"Surely a tea is just a specialty tea without the extras?" Tonks asked, honestly confused.

With an exasperated sigh and another dramatic eye roll, their waitress noted something down on her parchment and stomped off. Charlie followed her with his eyes, looking bemused.

"Is tea really that big of a deal?"

Tonks shrugged; she didn't know. Maybe not for normal people but it was quickly become evident that this place wasn't exactly for normal people.

In hindsight, she probably should have been more wary of the opinions given on this place. The girls she'd heard discussing it weren't exactly the people she liked to hang out with. Or even be in the same room as.

"Here," their waitress said gruffly, slopping down their teas.

Literally slopping, some spilt over the sides. Tonks stopped herself from making a snide remark about being able to make normal teas after all. She was not going to be that person.

With nothing but a huff, the girl stomped off to Merlin-knows-where and left her and Charlie to it. They caught each other's eyes and burst into giggles. It was all going a bit ridiculous wasn't it? Other customers, the soppy couples, glared at them. The two of them hid behind their teas and took a sip. Almost immediately they spluttered from the heat, nearly spilling their tea. Those cups were put back down in a hurry.

"I'm paying," Charlie informed her, putting a collection of coins on the table in an untidy pile as they waited for their teas to cool. A knut rolled off it, which Tonks caught quite deftly. "Thanks."

"Don't be daft," she protested, reaching into her own pockets.

"Nuh uh," Charlie refused, shaking his head. "The _boy_ pays on dates. Even I know that much."

"Bull. And this isn't a _real_ date."

"Nooo," Charlie admitted. "It's an experiment. But it has the word 'date' in it so I'm paying."

He looked particularly pleased with that bit of logic.

"For _your_ drink," Tonks told him matter-of-factly. "Not mine."

"Yes yours."

"No."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"No!" Tonks said triumphantly.

"Okay," Charlie agreed easily, giving her a grin.

"Wait," she was confused. "No!"

"That's what you said," Charlie said, tidying his coins into neat stacks by coin type.

"No, _I'm_ paying for mine," she insisted.

"Nope, we already made a deal. No going back."

Tonks narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on the table. "Now, wait here Charlie Weasley-"

"Ahem."

The two friends stopped and turned around. There were two women standing in front of them, one of them their waitress, neither looking best pleased.

"Yes?" Tonks asked hesitantly.

"You are making a disturbance," the older woman simpered.

Urgh, Tonks scrunched up her nose. She had an annoying, cutesy voice.

"Sorry, Mrs?" Tonks started to apologise.

"_Madam_ Puddifoot," the woman sniffed.

Tonks let her mouth fall open in shock. That was a _real_ name?

"Sorry, Madam Puddifoot," Charlie apologised smoothly, taking the attention off her gaping mouth. "We didn't mean to."

Another sniff plus a toss of her piled up curls. The woman looked somewhat mollified, probably because Charlie looked so eagerly apologetic, but not completely. Not enough for her to change her opinion of them.

Before they knew it, they were out of their seats and outside. They hadn't even been given a chance to get their robes back on! The two of them blinked at each other in confusion as the door slammed behind them, all of Charlie's change scattered on the ground by their irate waitress. Well, that was a bit dramatic of her.

"Want to go pelt people with snowballs?" Charlie suggested, picking up his coins.

Tonks' eyes lit up. "Double points if you hit a couple at the same time," she challenged.

"You're on!"

**AN: Hope you enjoyed this! Thank you to everyone who has read so far – only one more chapter to go. If you want a preview just drop me a review.**


	5. Conclusions

Both men were currently laughing their butts off. Well one of them was. Remus was trying very, very hard not to but the blown-out cheeks and red face kind of gave away what he thought of the whole situation. I elbowed him. He let loose a long breath and chuckled, something and did not appreciate and I hope my pout told him that.

"Well, that well?" Remus questioned after he had regained control of himself.

Something Sirius had yet to do. I threw a cushion at him which didn't dissuade his chuckling a bit. Actually, it made it worse because it made him look at me which made his chuckles regress to full-blown laughter again. He held a hand up to get us both to stop talking as he struggled to get himself under control. I exchanged unimpressed looks with Remus who just sighed in exasperation.

"Charlie really didn't do many dates, did he?" Sirius asked knowingly.

"I honestly think I was the only person Charlie 'dated' at Hogwarts," I told them cheerfully.

I didn't really mind what happened. Charlie wasn't mean about it, he was just honestly confused, we had some fun and it didn't end with me getting grossly groped. A good day all in all.

"Really? He's quite good-looking," Sirius commented and frowned. "He's the one with the shorter hair and the burn on his chin, right?"

I'm impressed that Sirius could remember that, since this whole Order business started Charlie has only been in the country once. He literally got to know that Sirius was innocent and that Voldemort was back before buggering off back to Romania.

"Wait, you think he's good looking?" I asked, eyebrows raised.

Sirius shrugged. "Well, yeah," he admitted easily. "Not as good looking as me, of course-"

"Of course," Remus and I muttered sarcastically.

"But I can still have an appreciation for the male form." Sirius finished.

"Really? 'Appreciation of the male form', Padfoot?" Remus demanded.

"Well, of course."

I rolled my eyes at my cousin. He could at least _try_ to be subtle. But no, that wouldn't work for the whole 'brash Gryffindor' personality, would it?

"I thought you two really got along," Sirius stated thoughtfully.

"We did. Still do," I amended.

"Then, did you go on more dates?"

He looked a bit too eager for the answer to that question. I _unfortunately_ popped his bubble.

"Nope."

"Not every friendship ends up in a relationship," Remus scolded his friend.

"Good ones do," Sirius said with a waggle of his eyebrows, he really was ridiculous.

"What about you and Lily?" Remus demanded, folding his arm. "He and Lily were very close," Remus added for my benefit.

A brief pained look crossed Sirius' face, vanishing almost as soon as it appeared and he waved his hand dismissively. "Prongs was hers. That's different. Tonksy-" I nudged him in the ribs, "-here said Charlie didn't really date anyone."

"Charlie's not interested in anything except dragons," I informed them matter-of-factly. "Honestly? I don't think the man even _has_ a sex drive."

"Towards humans anyway," Sirius coughed none too subtly.

"Sirius!" I scolded.

"What! I didn't say anything!"

"That's mean," I reprimanded.

Too many people had made jokes like that for my liking. Okay, Sirius wasn't, well, _serious_ about it and obviously didn't mean anything by it but it still shouldn't be said. I wouldn't let it be said. Quite a vicious glare was directed at Sirius. He made a calming gesture but I didn't let up until he looked at least a little bit sheepish. Good. He better not do it again.

"Did you even have your tea after all that?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow.

I burst out into laughter and shook my head.

"Not in there," I replied then thought for a moment. "Or anywhere actually. We grabbed a couple of butterbeers from the Hog's Head."

"Urgh," Remus said, scrunching up his nose.

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. Did Remus actually have an _issue_ with someone?

"Abe is cool!" Sirius protested.

Remus scrunched up his nose even more. "Abe smells."

"You're just sensitive."

I had to conceal a snort at that. 'Sensitive' was putting mildly when it came to werewolf senses. The two 'men', and I use that term loosely, had a brief scuffle that involved head-locks, _ear-pulling_ and an awful lot of childish name-calling.

"Do I need to separate you two boys?" I asked in my best McGonagall impression.

I was quite good at morphing my voice to hers, if I could say so myself. Apparently, Remus and Sirius thought so too because they sprang apart, looking incredibly guilty. Ha!

"Not nice," Sirius said with a pout as he fixed his hair.

"Not supposed to be," I teased and then coughed, I hadn't changed my voice back yet.

They both pulled faces at me, obviously not appreciative when the tables were turned on them. Hypocrites.

"So that's what a non-date date consists of," Remus said thoughtfully, a grin on his face.

I thumped him. The prat.

"Did you actually finish up the day throwing snowballs at people?" Sirius asked eagerly.

I nodded and laughed. "Yep, that was definitely the highlight of my day."

Not the highlight of a lot of the soppy couples wanting to sneak of for some decent snogging. Me and Charlie got anyone who drifted away from the crowds. Which was actually quite a lot. I don't even _want_ to think about how many points Prefects took from us that day.

Remus was trying very hard to look disapproving. "That wasn't very mature of either of you."

"We were sixteen, I don't think any sixteen-year-old is what you would call mature," I pointed out.

I certainly didn't know of any mature sixteen-year-olds. Hormones were wild.

"You were acting more like six years old! "

I just shrugged at that, not really caring. I knew I was an annoying little bugger as a teen. The Marauders had done far worse and I told him so. Neither man had a retort for _that_. I gave them a triumphant grin.

"Shut up," Remus grumbled good-naturedly.

Sirius and I pretended to fall down in horror.

"_Remus_ _Lupin_ is telling _us_ to shut up?" I gasped dramatically.

"Wonders will never cease," Sirius agreed, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "I'm afraid we've corrupted him."

"Whatever shall we do?"

"Idiots," Remus told us fondly.

"Pretty sure you're not meant to call your girlfriend an idiot," Sirius said.

Remus immediately blushed and tried to stutter out something. I held up my hand to stop him.

"It's okay," I replied, wrapping my arms around him. "I'm _his_ idiot." I gave him a squeeze for good measure.

Sirius made a gagging noise as me and Remus exchanged soppy looks. Remus threw a cushion at him this time. It got him square in the face.

"Hmpf," he sulked as I pressed a quick kiss on Remus' lips.

"I have an important question about the whole business," Remus announced after clearing his throat.

"Shoot," I said, giving him a slightly nervous look.

Remus let the silence stretch for a bit, building up suspense. It just made me feel on edge, what did he want to ask me?

"Did you win the snowball fight?"

**AN: That's it folks! Thank you to all who read, please leave me a review if you enjoyed this and check out my main fics for this series; Not There To See Me Fall and Catch Me Before I Fall. If you liked this, I hope you'd like those as well.**


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